Coupler structure



July 25, 1939. E. P. KINNE El AL COUPLER STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 6, 1937 4Sheets-Sheet 1 zmrzdPiwz/w Q Hmr JOVEWQZZ,

y E. P. KINNE ET AL v COUPLER STRUCTURE fave/725m: ZZZFZLZJZLZ P'iuzrze, firmer Jfireamwafi,

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1957 y 25, 1939- E. P. KINNE El AL2,157,613

COUPLER STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 6, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ju y 25, 1939. E.P. KINNE ET AL COUPLER STRUCTURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 6, 1937[720 Fdfizzujd fiiuzrze, Elrrzen/ Greazzawalzi Patented July 25, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE liance, Ohio,

assignors to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, Ill., a. corporation ofNew Jersey Application December 6, 1937, Serial No. 178,195

22 Claims.

Our invention relates to railway couplers and more particularly to animprovement on the present standard E type coupler.

As is well known, there is a certain amount of play or slack betweencooperating couplers of the present standard type. It has been founddesirable to permit a certain amount of play between the contours ofmating couplers, for example, in order to facilitate coupling. A methodof permitting this play between contours for purposes of coupling and,at the same time, greatly reducing it in actual train operation aftercou-- pling, has been described and disclosed in a copending applicationentitled Car coupler and filed in the United States Patent Office May 6,

1336, Serial No. 28,183. issued as Patent No. 2,08,297 November 2, 1937,in the name of Frank H. Kayler. Our improvement in slack control may beused supplementary to the improvement shown in the said Kaylerapplication or it may be used independently thereof.

The general object of our invention is to provide a means of retainingthe contours of mated couplers in tighter engagement during actualoperation of trains while, at the same time, permitting the necessaryamount of play for the coupling operation.

A more specific object of our invention is to provide an improved type Ecoupler incorporating a spring-resisting and lock-bearing wall.

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved type of lockwhich will permit adjustable abutment against said lock-bearing wall ina series of spaced planes.

Another object of our invention is to provide a novel form of lockhaving adjustable means providing abutment between said lock and the waagainst which said lock normally abuts.

Qur invention contemplates a novel form of lock having under certainconditions of operation the normal contour of the present standard Ecoupler lock and having under certain other conditions of operation acontour difiering from the present standard.

A further object of our invention is the provision of a two-piece lockhaving automatically adjustable slack take-up means.

Our invention further contemplates a novel form of coupler with partsinterchangeable with the standard E coupler and wherein the slacktake-up feature is operative when either our novel two-piece form oflock is used or the present standard type of coupler.

With these and various other objects in view,

the invention may consist of certain novel fea tures of construction andoperation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed outin the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawings which illustrate embodiments of the device and whereinlike reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure '1 isa fragmentary top plan view, partly in section, of our novel form ofcontrolled slack coupler in normal locked position together with afragmentary contour of a mating coupler;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view substantially in the planeindicated by the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the couplers underconditions of horizontal angling; I

Figure 4 is a top plan view, partly in section, of two couplersincorporating our invention under pulling conditions;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of our novel form of lock with the lockassembly seated in its normal locking position and with the parts inposition to provide maximum width of the lock;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of our novel form t of lock under theconditions shown in Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a front elevation of our novel form of lock showing therelative position of the parts of said look when the lock is in raisedposition;

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the look under the conditions shown inFigure 7;

Figure 9 is a top plan view of the lock structure with the lock parts intheir relative positions shown in Figures '7 and 8;

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the adjustable portion or wedge-pieceof our novel form of lock;

Figure 11 is an end elevation of the wedgepiece;

Figure 12 is a sectional view through the lock structure with the partsin the relative position shown in Figures 5 and 6, the section beingtaken substantially in the plane indicated by the line i2-l2 of Figure6;

Figure 13 is a sectional view through the lock with the parts in therelative positions shown in Figures 7 to 9, the figure being takensubstantially inthe plane indicated by the line i3-E3 of Figure 8;

Figure 14 is a sectional view through the lock structure, the sectionbeing taken substantially in the vertical plane indicated by the lineI4--l4 of Figure 9;

Figure 15 is a plan View of the adjustable looking wall plate used inour novel form of coupler;

Figure 16 is a side elevation thereof; and

Figure 17 is a section through the plate, the section being takensubstantially in the plane indicated by the line ll--l1 of Figure 15.

Describing our invention in more detail, and with particular referenceto Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, it may be observed that the matingcouplers 2 and 4 have the standard contours at 6 and 8 and include themating knuckles l8 and i2 pivoted respectively at I4 and 18 in the usualmanner. It will be observed that we have provided a novel form of guardarm E8 of enlarged form to provide the spring retaining cavity 25defined by front and rear walls 2% and 23 and top and bottom walls 22and 24 and reinforced by the center wall 25. Within the cavity are thecompression springs 28, 28 having abutment at their outer ends againstthe spring seats 38, 30, said spring seats having vertically arrangedpositioning flanges 32, 32 providing abutment against the retaining boltor rivet 34 as at 36, 35, said retaining bolt being received in alignedopenings adjacent the outer extremities of the walls 22, 24 and 2G andriveted over at their opposite ends as at 38, 38.

The inner ends of the compression springs 28, 28 abut the adjustablelock wall plate 40 over positioning means 42, 42 integrally formed onthe wall plate 48 and received within the coils 28. The lock wall plate40 provides a movable abutment for the lock 43 as at 44, the wall plate40 being normally urged outwardly of the cavity 20 by the compressionsprings 28, 28 until the top and bottom flanges 46 and 48 are inabutment against the flanges 58 and 52 on the guard arm as most clearlyshown in Figure 2. Movement of the wall plate 40 in the oppositedirection, compressing the springs 28, 28 as under the heavy pullingstresses normally occurring in starting a train or under anglingpositions, is limited by abutment as at 54 and 56.

In conjunction with our novel form of slack controlled coupler, we haveincorporated the cushion knuckle face plates 58, 58 of the formdescribed in the above mentioned Kayler application Serial No. 78,183.

The lock 43 which has abutment against the wall plate 40, as abovedescribed, is of novel form having a normal outside contour similar tothat of the lock used in the present standard E coupler. Our novel formof lock, however, is a two-piece structure having the adjustablewedge-piece 60 operable to vary the width of the lock in a manner to behereafter more fully described. As shown in Figure 1, it may be observedthat the lock wedge 68 projects beyond the normal locking face of thelock a distance indicated at B, the normal width of the lock beingindicated at A. It will be readily understood that increasing the widthof the lock as indicated at B by adjustment of the position of the wedge60, affects the contour since such increase of the lock width rotatesthe knuckle E8 on the pivot [4, thus tightening the contours andlessening the free slack between the mated couplers. As shown in Figure1, it will be observed that all free slack between the two couplercontours has been eliminated, this effect being brought about partly bythe operation of the wedge 68 in increasing the width of the look asindicated at B and in part by the abutment of the knuckle face plates58, 58.

As seen in Figure 1, the lock 43 is in abutment on the face opposite thewedge 68 as at 62 with the locking face of the knuckle tail 64, saidlock being normally seated on said knuckle tail when in locked positionas at 66 and 68 (Figure 5) and as well known in the present standardtype E coupler.

Figure 3 shows a mated pair of our novel form of couplers underconditions of horizontal angling. Under these conditions it may be notedthat the face plate 58 of the knuckle I2 is compressed inwardly to apoint flush with the heel of the said knuckle as at T8, and the nose ofthe knuckle I2 is also moved outwardly as compared with the positionshown in Figure 1 through its rotation in a clockwise direction as seenin Figure 3 on the pivot it, thus moving the wall plate 48 in adirection to compress the springs 28 and. bringing the wall plate 40 inabutment against the surfaces on the guard arm indicated at 54 and 56(Figure 2 At the same time, the face plate 58 of the knuckle i0 is inits fully expanded position and is free of engagement with the throat ofthe opposing coupler 4 inasmuch as the coupler 2 is laterally angled themaximum of eleven degrees as indicated at C with respect to the axis XYof the coupler 4.

Figure 4 shows mated couplers of our novel design under heavy pullingconditions such as occur in the starting of a train, the pulling forcebeing suflicient to cause the adjustable lock wall plates 40, 40 to bethrust back into abutment against the guard arm surfaces 54 and 58(Figure 2) compressing to the maximum amount the springs 28, 28, thuspermitting the mated knuckles l0 and I2 to rotate on their respectivepivots l4 and i5 and move outwardly from the throats of the opposingcouplers 4 and 2 respectively, the positions of the respective contours8 and 8 under such conditions conforming to the present standard No. 10Acontour lines. Under these conditions, it may be noted that there is acertain clearance between each of the knuckle face plates 58, 58 and thethroat of the opposing coupler as shown at D, D. It will be apparentalso that as the pulling stress gradually decreases under normal pullingconditions, the compression springs 28, 28 will be operable to diminishthe spaces D, D by rotation of the respective knuckles and under properconditions to bring the knuckle face plates 58, 58 into engagementagainst the throats of the opposed couplers, whereupon the parts willhave assumed the relative positions shown in Figure 1.

Our novel form of lock is shown in detail in Figures 5 to 14 inclusive,wherein Figures 5 and 6 show the normal relationship of the parts inlocked position of the lock wherein it presents a maximum width to closethe coupler contour, and wherein Figures '7, 8 and 9 disclose the normalrelationship of the lock parts when the lock is free or in raisedposition and presents a contour substantially identical with that of thepresent lock of the standard E coupler.

The lock generally indicated at 43 is a twopiece structure comprisingthe main body portion 12 and the movable wedge 52 which, when assembledin the relative position shown in Figure '7 with the wedge 60 in itslower-most position, presents an outside contour like that of the lockof the present standard E coupler. To those skilled in the art it willbe apparent that when the lock is freely raised as in unlocking, thewedge 60 will drop under the influence of gravity to its lower-mostposition, the look assembly then presenting the contour shown in Figures'7 to 9. At this time the lock with the wedge reseated is of normalwidth A and under coupling action may start to drop past the knuckletail locking face as indicated at 62 (Figlife 5) toward its normal seaton the knuckle tail as indicated at 66 and 68 (Figure 5) and on theknuckle thrower as indicated at 6! (Figure 6). This action occurs beforethe knuckle has reached its fully pulled-in position and while there isstill some clearance between the mated knuckles and the opposed couplercontours as is normally the case. It may also be observed that when thelock is in its free and raised position, the lower end of the Wedge 60projects below the normal lock rest 68 of the lock to the pointindicated at 14 (Figures '7 and 8), the wedge member 63 presenting at 75an offset portion which seats upon the shelf 11 (Figure 12) of the mainbody portion of the lock. In the coupling operation, therefore, the lookat once drops part way past the knuckle tail face at 62 while there isstill a certain amount of coupling clearance between the contours. Afterdropping part way, the bottom portion or leg 16 of the wedge strikes thetop of the knuckle thrower 18 as at 6'! (Figure 6) and is stopped. Thelock, however, is still free to move downwardly and in so doing will beforced over laterally due to the wedge action as the wedge member 60 israised in relation to the main body portion 12, thus increasing theover-all width of the lock by the amount of the wedge projectionindicated as a maximum at B whenrthe lock has been seated in its finallock position resting on the thrower T8 and on the knuckle shelves as at66 and 68 (Figure 5).

From a consideration of Figures 10, 11 and 12, it will be apparent thatthe wedge 60 may assume any one of a series of positions with relationto the main body portion 12 of the lock, the serrated face 80 on theportion 12 being complementary in form to the face 82 on the wedge.These serrated faces are composed of a series of spaced steps orsurfaces 84, 84 (Figure 11) in planes parallel to the vertical axis ofthe lock, and joined by sloping faces 86, 86, in planes diagonal to saidaxis and to the faces 84, 84, thus providing the wedging action abovedescribed. When the lock is in an operative position under compressionbetween the locking Wall plate 40 and. the tail of the knuckle, therewill be no wedge action developed inasmuch as the faces 84, 84 on thewedge and on the portion 12 will be in abutment with each other inplanes parallel to the axis of the lock. The above mentioned wedgingaction will occur only when the lock is falling from a raised positionand the purpose of the stepped arrangement of the wedge faces ascompared with a wedge having plane surfaces is to eliminate the tendencywhich would otherwise occur for the lock wedge to work upward along thetapered face under the normal pulling stresses such as occur underoperating conditions.

The wedge 60 is retained in. assembled relationship with the main bodyportion 12 of the lock by having on its lateral edges the verticalflanges 88, 88 which are received in slots 90, 90 formed in the saidbody portion and the removal of the wedge in a vertical direction isprevented by the stop member 92 (Figure 13) which may be welded orotherwise secured in position after the parts have been assembled.

The form of the locking wall plate 46 is shown in detail in Figures to17 wherein it may be observed that the structure consists of a platelikebody portion indicated at 94, thicker at one edge than at the other inorder to accommodate the angular relationship of the springs 28,

automatic operation of our novel form of lock is v such as to present avarying lockwidth which is adjustable to the particular conditions ofeach coupler. By the use of this novel structure it is possible tocompensate for the usual manufacturing tolerances which occurin steelcastings and to insure absolutely tight engaging contours of matingcouplers when our novel structural features are incorporated therein. Atthe same time it will be apparent that our structure is such as topermit the contours to open the necessary amount under conditions ofstress or in the coupling or uncoupling operation.

It is to be understood that we do not wish to be limited by the exactembodiments of the device shown which are merely by way of illustrationand not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will ofcourse be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. In a railway car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knucklehaving a nose portion forming a part of said contour, a guard armopposite said knuckle forming another part, of said contour, resilientmeans housed in said guard arm, a locking plate seated against saidresilient means, and a lock positioned between said locking plate andthe tail of said knuckle to retain said knuckle in its closed position,said lock carrying means adjustable by gravity to vary the width thereofand being vertically movable to permit rotation of said knuckle fromclosed to open position, said locking plate being laterally movable insaid coupler under the influence of said resilient means to vary thelocking position of said lock and modify said contour.

2. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face,a knuckle thrower, a guard arm, a movable locking plate housed in saidguard arm, a vertically movable lock normally seated on said knuckle andsaid thrower between said face and said plate to retain said parts inlocked position, said plate being laterally adjustable to vary theposition of said lock laterally of said coupler when in locked position,and movable means on said lock operable by impact with said thrower assaid lock falls from its raised or unlocked position, said operation ofsaid movable means effectingan increase in the width of said lock.

3. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face,a knuckle thrower, a guard arm, a movable locking plate housed in saidguard arm, a vertically movable lock normally seated on said knuckle andsaid thrower between said face and said plate to retain said parts inlocked position, said plate being laterally adjustable to vary theposition of said lock laterally of said coupler when in locked position,and movable means on said lock operable to vary the width of said lockby impact with said thrower as said lock falls from its raised orunlocked position.

4. In a railway car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knucklehaving a locking face, and a nose forming a portion of said contour, aguard arm opposite said knuckle forming another part of said contour, acavity in said guard arm, a movable locking plate in said cavity,resilient means in abutment against said locking plate, and a lockinterposed between said plate and said face, said lock comprising a bodyportion and a wedge piece having engagement along spaced offset planeswhereby said wedge piece may be seated against said body portion in anyone of a plurality of positions laterally offset with respect to eachother.

5. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face,a knuckle thrower, a guard arm, a movable locking plate housed in saidguard arm, and a vertically movable lock normally seated on said knuckleand said thrower between said face and said plate to retain said partsin locked position, said plate being laterally adjustable to vary theposition of said lock laterally of said coupler when in locked position,and means on said lock abutting said plate, said means being operable tovary the width of said look when moving from lockset to locked position.

6. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle with a locking face, a guardarm opposite said knuckle, a cavity in said guard arm opening toward theaxis of said coupler, a movable locking plate in said opening, resilientmeans in said cavity in abutment against said locking plate, and a lockseated between said face and said plate, said lock having a movablewedge member secured thereto, said wedge member having selectiveengagement with said lock along a plurality of offset planes wherebyvertical movement of said wedge member with respect to said lock iseffective to vary the width of said lock.

'7. An automatic car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knucklehaving a locking face, and a nose forming a part of said contour, aguard arm opposite side knuckle, a locking plate in said guard arm, alock normally positioned between said plate and said face to retain saidknuckle in closed or locked position, and resilient means housed in saidguard arm in abutment against said plate and operable through said plateto vary the position of said lock and said knuckle under normaloperating conditions, said lock comprising a movable wedge piece andmeans retaining said wedge piece, said wedge piece having selectiveengagement with the body of said lock along a plurality of spaced areas:whereby said wedge piece may serve to vary the effective Width of saidlock.

8. A car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knuckle with alocking face, and a nose forming a portion of said contour, a guard armforming another portion of said contour, a locking plate housed in saidguard arm, a lock nor mally positioned between said face and said plateto retain said parts in locked position and vertically movable therefromto release said parts, and movable means on said lock automaticallyadjustable relative thereto to vary the effective width of said look byengagement of said means with another member of said coupler as saidlock is raised and lowered in normal operation.

9. In an automatic car coupler a vertically movable lock comprising amain body portion, and a wedge-piece vertically movable with respect tosaid main body portion, said wedge-piece in its lower-most positionbeing confined within the normal contour of said lock and in raisedposition extending outwardly of said contour to increase the effectivewidth of said lock, said wedge-piece being automatically operable undernormal operating conditions of said coupler.

10. In an automatic coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face, aguard arm opposite said knuckle, resilient means mounted in said guardarm, a movable locking plate in abutment against said resilient means,and a vertically movable lock between said plate and said face, saidlock having a movable memberadjustable under the influence of gravity tovary the width of said look as said lock moves from lockset to lockedposition under normal operating conditions.

11. In a railway car coupler having a normal contour, a pivoted knucklehaving a nose portion forming a part of said contour, a guard armopposite said knuckle forming another part of said contour, resilientmeans housed in said guard arm, a locking plate seated against saidresilient means, and a lock positioned between said locking plate andthe tail of said knuckle to retain said knuckle in its closed position,said lock comprising a member relatively movable with respect to thebody of said lock to vary the effective width of said lock, said memberbeing operable by auto matic engagement with means on said coupler assaid lock moves from lock-set to locked position in normal operation.

12. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face,a knuckle thrower, a guard arm opposite said knuckle, said guard armhousing an adjustable locking plate, a vertically movable lock seatedbetween said face and said plate, said lock being vertically movable torelease said parts from locked position, and movable means on said lockactuated by engagement with said thrower as said lock falls fromelevated to locked position to increase the effec tive width of saidlock.

13. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle with a locking face, a guardarm opposite said knuckle, a cavity in said guard arm opening toward theaxis of said coupler, a movable locking plate in said opening, resilientmeans in said cavity in abutment against said locking plate, and a lockseated between said face and said plate, said lock comprising a wedgepiece having engagement with the main body thereof along spaced offsetplanes whereby said wedge piece may be seated along said body portion inany one of a plurality of positions laterally offset with respect tosaid body portion to vary the effective width of said lock.

14. In an automatic car coupler a vertically movable lock comprising amain body portion, and a wedge-piece vertically movable with respect tosaid main body portion, said wedge-piece in its lower-most positionbeing confined within the normal contour of said lock and in raisedposition extending outwardly of said contour to increase the effectivewidth of said lock.

15. In a railway car coupler, a lock of variable width comprising a mainbody portion and a wedge-piece, means on said lock retaining saidwedge-piece and said portion in assembled relationship, sa-idwedge-piece and said body portion having selective engagement along aplurality of vertical faces lying in parallel planes, whereby therelative position of said wedge-piece may be altered to vary theeffective width of said lock.

16. In a variable width lock for an automatic car coupler, a main bodyportion, a wedge-piece, means on said lock retaining said Wedge-piece inassembled relationship, said body portion and said wedge-piece havingselective engagement along a plurality of parallel vertical faces,Whereby said wedge-piece may serve to vary the effective width of saidlock.

17. In an automatic car coupler, a pivoted knuckle, a knuckle thrower,and a lock movable on a vertical axis, said lock comprising a movablewedge-piece having selective engagement with the main body portion ofsaid lock along a plurality of vertical planes, whereby said wedgepieceis operative to vary the effective width of said lock.

18. In an automatic car coupler, a pivoted knuckle, a knuckle thrower,and a lock movable on a vertical axis, said lock comprising a movablewedge-piece having selective engagement with the main body portion ofsaid lock along a plurality of vertical planes, said wedge-piece beingoperable to engage said knuckle thrower as said lock moves downwardlyand increase the effective width of said lock.

19. A two-piece lock for an automatic car coupler comprising a bodyportion and a wedge-piece, means on said body portion retaining saidwedgepiece in assembly therewith, said wedge-piece and said body portionhaving selective engagement along a plurality of offset planes, wherebyvertical movement of said wedge-piece with respect to said body portionis efiective to vary the width of said lock.

20. A two-part lock for an automatic car coupler comprising a bodyportion and a wedgepiece having engagement with each other along spacedoffset planes, whereby said wedge-piece may be seated against said bodyportion in any one of a plurality of positions laterally offset withrespect to each other.

21. In a railway car coupler, a pivoted knuckle, a knuckle thrower, anda lock movable on a vertical axis, said lock comprising a movable memherhaving engagement with said lock along a plurality of offset planefaces, said member being operable to engage said thrower and shift itsposition relative to said look as said lock moves downwardly,

22. In an automatic car coupler a pivoted knuckle having a locking face,a knuckle thrower, a vertically movable lock, and a guard arm oppositesaid knuckle, said guard arm presenting an adjustable locking plate forabutment of said lock, said lock being normally seated on said knuckleand said thrower in abutment against said locking plate to retain saidparts in locked. position, said lock comprising a wedge movable relativethereto and engageable therewith along a plurality of spaced areas, saidwedge being automatically positioned with respect to said lock byengagement with said thrower as said lock moves from lock-set to lockedposition.

EDMUND P. KINNE. EIMER J. GREENAWALT.

